Where's Daddy?
by AngelGirl569
Summary: A short story about little London's life at the hotel and her relationship with Mr. Moseby.


"All right London, it's time to go home." Moseby picked her out of the gaggle of toddlers by the seat of her sequined overalls and held her in his arms. She gurgled and pulled at his suit. Her pudgy fingers grasped his gold plated ID and almost snapped it off. For a little girl, she was very strong.

"First kid?" The woman on his left smiled sympathetically.

"Something like that," Moseby replied with a smile. Ever since Mr. Tipton had left London with him "for the weekend," Moseby had been her main caretaker. Everyone in the hotel helped a little, playing with her when they had time or babysitting during their break, but the brunt of responsibility had fallen to Moseby. Not that he didn't love the girl with all his heart, it was just that…it all felt wrong somehow, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah, this here is my third," The woman struggled with her own flailing child, interrupting his own thoughts. They made small talk for a while more until day care had officially ended, and they left.

Moseby strapped London into her car seat, buckled himself in, and they were off. He enjoyed talking to her, for her ever cheerful face of youth made everything seem just a bit better.

"Where are we going now, London?" He would ask.

"Home!" She would call.

"Good! And where is home?"

"Tipton! Tipton!" She always got excited at the mention of the hotel.

"Very good," He smiled. Someday, he would have kids of his own, and he could feel pride in their accomplishments. Of course he was proud of London too! She was a bit of a slow learner, but had demonstrated good memory and curiosity. He couldn't wait until she was older and going off to school, able to tell him all the things she had learned that day. He just knew that was the kind of girl she would be.

They pulled into his reserved parking spot and walked in through the double doors hand in hand. London hugged Norman in greeting as she always did, and the silent man's face softened. She ran to Muriel, who gave her a cookie. The crotchety old woman's face split into a smile at the sight of London's eager face.

Every afternoon, Muriel would tell London one of the many stories of her life. They tended to be one of the main highlights of London's day. Moseby took his position behind the front desk and began his afternoon duties.

"Mr. Moseby!" The assistant manager ran up waving a paper in his hand. "There's a fax for you from Mr. Tipton himself!"

"Thank you," Moseby mumbled, scanning the fax. "Oh my!" He turned to the young man and said, "It's from Mr. Tipton. He's going to be away for a little while longer."

"How much longer?"

"It looks to be a year, maybe two." Moseby frowned sadly at London, sitting contentedly in Muriel's lap. She had no idea what kind of life she was leading. To some, it was a charmed life full of innocent extravagance. But everyone who worked at the hotel knew the true story. They knew of how Mr. Tipton had been pulled away on "urgent business" on London's second birthday and told the staff that London would be staying there for the weekend – or so. Her nanny, an ex beauty queen, had gone missing at the last minute, leaving the baby girl in the care of Moseby and the staff.

It had been almost three months since that day, and Mr. Tipton had yet to visit.

"He also says that London is to be moved to the penthouse."

The man nodded. "That's quite a big home for a little girl. A very permanent home too."

Moseby nodded. "If Mr. Tipton orders it, then we must do so."

"I'll alert housekeeping of the change."

Once again, Moseby was alone. After a few hours, dinner had come and gone, and the clock was striking half past eight. He grabbed his coat and prepared to leave. A voice cried out, "Mr. Moseby, wait!" He turned to see Muriel, in her robe and slippers, looking quite distraught.

"Muriel, what is it?" A million scenarios ran through his head. "Plumbing problem? Pregnant guest in labor? Bomb threat?"

"Worse!" Muriel cried, "London is missing!"

His heart skipped a beat. "London?" But she hated hide and go seek! He and Muriel exchanged looks and ran to the elevator. He pressed the highest numbered button, the one that would take them to the penthouse. The housing switch should have come through by now…the suite door was open.

Her suitcases lay on the floor next to the closet. A few garments had been hung up, but other than that it lay untouched. They walked into the bedroom. The bed was unmade, and looked as though someone had been sleeping there recently.

"All right, either London was just here, or house keeping is doing a really lousy job," He reasoned.

"Maybe both," Muriel said. He started to say something, then stopped. They had to find London.

"Let's split up," Moseby said. "You check the basement, and I'll check her old suite."

"Why are you going there? Everything's been moved out of there by now. There's nothing left."

"Maybe she forgot something and decided to go look for it, but accidentally got locked in when they locked up the unused rooms for the night."

Moseby shrugged. "If you say so." She ambled off down the hall as he got back into the elevator. Using his master key, he entered the small single suite. A small snuffling lump made the bed stand out to him. With every ounce of patience he could muster, he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"London," He peeled the sheet back to reveal her tear stained face. "Why are you in here?"

She only sniffled.

"Don't you like your new suite?" She shook her head. "Why not?"

She thought for a moment. "Too big. No know."

"But your father wants you to stay there from now on. Besides, it's a big girl, aren't you? Hmm? This is a little girl room, practically a nursery. Don't you want your very own big girl room?"

She shook her head.

"Why do you say no?" His gaze softened.

"Too big. Too cold. Stay here with daddy."

He took a breath. "London, your father isn't here right now. He's quite busy and probably won't visit for quite some time."

"Daddy is here." She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Where's daddy? Tell me London, where is your daddy?"

She touched a finger to his chest. "You daddy, silly! Silly daddy!" She smiled her gap toothed smile.

He couldn't speak. "London, I –"

She was yawning, falling asleep. He smiled ruefully and fluffed the pillows underneath her head. He made to get up and leave, but she whimpered in her sleep.

Looking down, Moseby saw for the first time the sadness and loneliness hidden deep inside of her. Although she didn't know the particulars of it, despite her age, London was no stranger to abandonment and disappointment.

He took off his coat, kicked off his shoes, and lay down next to her. She nuzzled into the crook of his arm, and they lay like that a while, her sleeping soundly, him staring up at the ceiling wondering how he was going to fix this mess.


End file.
